Loose Ends
by Pookie2
Summary: As the Mojave prepares for war, The Courier sees to unfinished business.  Part 11 of the "All the Things You Are" storyline. Rated for language, violence, sexual innuendo.
1. Cross the T's

"Well it's not like we can just say 'Screw you and your main source of income, and if you don't like it, tough.'" Veronica said sourly, causing Arcade to groan.

"But that is what we're saying," he retorted. "Why sugar-coat it?"

"You've never met Cachino," Layla said dryly. "We're going to have to dip it in agave and roll it in sugar bombs if we're ever going to get him to agree on something."

Arcade sighed, looking back at the notes he'd been scribbling. He, Layla and Veronica had spent the morning going over concerns for the coming NCR takeover of the Strip. Once the Courier and the three families agreed on a plan, they would have a strong united front the NCR couldn't refuse.

Cachino, as usual, was the problem. He hadn't been happy with any of the options Layla had offered, and seemed to be making things as difficult as possible. Even the Courier's seemingly endless reserve of patience and good humor were starting to wear down. Arcade looked her way to find her grimacing at her own notes. Looking up, she smiled as something caught her eye, and the doctor looked over to see what she'd focused on.

Boone was sitting further down the table, chewing on an iguana-on-a-stick. He'd been sitting with them all morning, eating or slowly cleaning each of his rifles. The doctor didn't know he had so many weapons, but just as he'd finish one, another would appear. He'd been there the whole time, except for the few moments Raul had called him away about some job he'd asked him to do.

Arcade knew why he was here, and it wasn't just to clear out the fridge or maintain his weapons; he was guarding Layla. The whole thing was ridiculous; they were in the Lucky 38, possibly the safest place in the Mojave. But he knew the sniper's inability to prevent Layla's latest kidnapping had upset him. Couple that with the condition she'd been in when she returned, and Boone was going to be glued to her for a while.

It was understandable, he supposed, that the sniper was upset. The only thing that had kept Arcade from declaring her dead at the satellite was the complete lack of ashes or remains of any kind. Matter didn't just disappear, so Layla's body had to be somewhere else. Arcade had been relieved when the girl had reappeared. He'd worried for most of the week that her luck had finally run out.

The Courier had recovered quickly from her time at Big Mountain. With the exception of a few healing scars and the slightly annoying inability talk about what happened, she hadn't seemed too upset about the ordeal. She'd been working out ways around the conditioning, with varying results. Any of the items that came back with her she could talk about, to a point. Arcade knew she should understand the science behind that ridiculous glowing axe of hers, but she simply referred to it as her 'robot smasher.'

There was a trill of beeping, and Layla distractedly reached up to pat ED-E. Arcade gave the eyebot a dirty look. It also hadn't left Layla's side since she'd come home. Arcade was starting to worry about Layla however; she'd started to talk like she understood the beeping now.

"Mmm hm, I won't go see him alone," she murmured to the robot. Arcade saw Veronica give both the Courier and ED-E an odd look. Like she had all the other times Layla had spoken to the robot. Only this time, Layla noticed.

"What?" the Courier said.

"You don't seriously expect us to believe you understand ED-E, right?" Veronica responded.

"What? I can." Layla retorted, looking up at the eyebot. "Go on, test me."

Arcade saw Veronica looking his way. He shrugged, then scrawled a sentence on a piece of paper. He showed it to the robot, who beeped in response.

The Courier looked to ED-E, who chirped at her.

"'E Pluribus Unum.' What does that mean, anyway?" Layla asked, turning to Arcade. "It's on all the old-world money."

"Out of many, one," Arcade answered automatically. "It was the nation's motto."

"Ahhh, gotcha," she said, then got up for the fridge. "Too bad they didn't follow it very well."

"Wait, so she really understands him?" Veronica asked, perplexed. Arcade shrugged.

"I guess so."

"But _how_ do you understand him?" the scribe asked. Layla sat back down at her spot, bottle of water in hand. Her face creased with a frown. Judging by how she closed her eyes in concentration, Arcade had to assume she was trying to talk about the Big Empty. Direct questions rarely got answers, but it hadn't stopped her from trying. A moment later, she opened her eyes and started speaking carefully.

"I… I couldn't before," she said, then bit her lip. "There was a… I figured out…" She stopped. Arcade frowned. It was hard watching her struggle. Glancing at the others, he saw Veronica giving her a mildly worried look. Boone's angry expression only softened when the Courier looked his way, replaced with encouragement.

"I can't tell you," Layla said eventually, sighing. She looked embarrassed , and Veronica reached out to squeeze her hand.

"It's okay," Arcade said. "Nothing to get upset about."

The girl gave him a half smile, which turned into a full one when ED-E bumped into her shoulder affectionately. She patted the robot again, then looked back at her notes.

"Anyway, what are we going to do with Cachino?" she said. "He wants more out of this deal, but I can't give him what he wants. The NCR is not going to allow illegal chems, no matter how much he whines…"

"So offer him more money," Boone said as he stood, moving to the fridge. He pulled a Nuka-cola out and wandered back to his spot at the table, in front of his currently dissembled anti-materiel gun. The group at the table all looked at each other.

"What am I paying you?" Layla asked, grinning.

"Nothing," Boone answered, working the cap off the Nuke with his machete.

"Double it," Layla said, scribbling on the sheet of paper she'd been jotting notes on.

"We can't give the Omertas more than the other families…" Veronica said.

"No, we'll give them all more money, but Cachino doesn't need to know about the others," Layla said, smiling as she pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and started scrawling equations.

"Will the NCR go for that?" Arcade asked, looking at his own notes.

"They'll go for it. They're getting a huge monetary boost. A little off the top for won't hurt," the Courier replied. "I'm asking them for a percentage toward a 'goodwill fund' anyway."

"What's that mean?"

"Five percent of yearly profit will go to a fund for helping the surrounding area," Layla said, then leveled a warning look at Arcade. "You're not allowed to tell Julie, but I'm going to put her and the Followers in charge of it."

The doctor stared at her. "I don't think the NCR is going to like that at all."

"It's worth a shot." She shrugged. "We're going to have to come up with a few extra unnecessary things we can 'give up' during bargaining, though."

"Sneaky," Veronica said. "What will those be?"

"I'm not sure yet," Layla answered. "I'm thinking a commission for all my hard work."

"Oh yeah?" Arcade looked up. "How much?" The girl tapped her chin.

"Hmm… I'm thinking something reasonable sounding, but ridiculous to the trained eye. Like .05 percent of yearly profit. The real bargaining chip is the money the Strip's pulling in right now. It's not going anywhere, so we'll have a huge bonus to offer them. It should make everything go over nice and-"

"I have a message for: 'Layla Granville'!" a securitron's voice boomed in the hallway. Layla jumped like she'd been shocked.

"Your last name is Granville?" Veronica asked, getting a sour look from the other girl.

"Yes, Veronica, that's my name. How long have we lived together and you don't know that?"

"What? It's not like you know all our names," the scribe said defensively.

"Veronica Renata Santangelo, Arcade Israel Gannon, Craig Boone, Eyebot Duraframe Subject E," Layla said, pointing to each of them in turn. She then shuffled her papers together and stood.

"Ha ha ha, you're middle name is 'Israel?'" Veronica said in Arcade's direction.

The doctor gave her a dirty look as Layla stepped out to speak with the securitron. A moment later, she returned with a grin on her face.

"Looks like Cachino has to wait. I'm so terribly sad," she said flatly, then brightened. "Who wants to go to Hoover Dam?"

"No thanks," Arcade and Veronica said at the same time. Boone was already cleaning up his scattered gun parts and discarded food wrappers. Layla stuck her head out into the hallway.

"Hey, Rose of Sharon Cassidy! You wanna go try to pick up some soldiers!" she bellowed. Layla looked back at Veronica, who shrugged innocently.

"Fuck yeah!" came the nearly immediate reply.

*.*.*

"Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Martha Luanne Gregory," Layla said cheerfully to the woman sorting through a desk covered with papers in the Hoover Dam offices. She gave the Courier a strange look at the use of her full name and rank.

"Don't mind her," Cass said, elbowing the shorter girl.

"Veronica didn't know my name," Layla groused.

"I don't think anyone cares," Cass replied.

"The colonel is waiting for you," Martha said, smiling at Layla. The smile faded. "Word of advice: she's not in a good mood."

"Well, that's certainly a change of pace," Layla said, making the lieutenant colonel laugh. Martha was in charge of paperwork at the dam, which meant she also kept Moore's appointments in line. Cass liked the woman; she wasn't quite the shrill harpy most of the female officers serving the NCR army she'd met were.

Cass noticed Layla square her shoulders before she strode into Moore's office. The woman was thumbing through her folders and took a moment to notice they'd arrived.

"Where the hell have you been?" the colonel asked the moment she laid eyes on the Courier. Cass glanced at the girl to find her biting her lip.

"I… was busy," she answered. "Personal situation came up. Anyway, I'm here now, so what can we do for you?"

Moore looked like she was going to demand more information out of Layla, then shook her head and picked up another folder. She glanced through it for a moment, then looked back up.

"Well, we had been worrying about the Omerta plot we'd gotten word of on the Strip… but that's not a problem now," Moore flicked to another paper. "And we had a problem with Mr. House. Luckily that's also been dealt with." Layla had been smiling, but frowned when House was mentioned. Moore continued, looking back up at Layla.

"So we're looking pretty good. Well, a lot better than before. And because of the recent improvement in our situation out here, especially with the Fiends and Khans disbanded, the green light has been given for the president to make an appearance at the Dam."

"The president is coming here?" Layla gaped. "Why?"

"Morale," Moore answered dryly. "He's going to give a speech, bolster spirits before we move on the Legion."

Layla bit her lip and shook her head. It sounded like an idiot idea to Cass too; Kimball would be lucky if his dumb ass didn't get blown to hell.

"The rangers are asking for your help when he does come, but the date hasn't been set. For now, I have something else for you to do."

"Go on," Layla said.

"Six years ago we were able to wrest the Helios One facility from the Brotherhood of Steel. Since that time, we haven't heard or seen from them… Some think they retreated back to California, but I think they holed up somewhere close and never left. Recently, we've had a scout go missing in the area west of the facility."

"What exactly is it you'd like me to do?" Layla asked, sounding carefully neutral.

"I want you to find where they're hiding and wipe them out to the last man."

Well, there it was. Last time someone asked that of Layla, she killed him. Glancing over to the Courier, Cass found her gaping at the colonel.

"What!" she cried. Moore gave her a perplexed look.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah there's a problem, I'm not doing it."

Now the colonel looked like she was getting angry, "Excuse me?"

"I'm not killing a whole group of people. You'd better find a peaceful way to do this."

"Don't be ridiculous," Moore said , "We're still at war. They're the type to hold a grudge and we can't ignore them."

"They have the grudge, or you do?" Layla retorted. Moore's face stilled, and she stood. Moving around her desk, she started for the Courier. For a very surreal moment, Cass was sure the colonel was going to clobber the smaller woman. She merely stopped in front of her, glaring lasers.

"Listen, girl," Moore growled. "While you were running around delivering love notes, I was watching my men get fried by Brotherhood energy weapons. You think you can fix this desert by making everyone kiss and make up? You're just going to end up dead."

"I didn't know you cared," Layla retorted, apparently not worried by the woman's vague threats.

"I don't care about you, it's the NCR I'm worried about. If you wind up fucking this up for us-"

"_Me_?" Layla interrupted. "This entire campaign was already a gigantic clusterfuck by the time I showed up. How many people were you people planning on sending to die at Forlorn Hope? Have you _seen _Searchlight?"

Moore glared at the Courier, and Cass could see her hands clenching into fists. She looked to Boone, and he gave her the closest thing to a nervous look she'd ever seen on him. Just as Cass was deciding she need to say something before the two women in front of her got violent, the colonel spoke again.

"Get out of here, and don't come back until you've dealt with the Brotherhood."

Layla merely glared at her, then turned and started for the exit. Cass and Boone quickly followed.


	2. Dot the I's

Veronica hummed to herself as she hit the elevator button for the presidential suite. She had a new technical manual to go through and a Nuka-Cola Quartz under her arm. She'd also found a trashy romance novel that was juuust thin enough to hide in the other book. All she had to do was threaten everyone against drinking her Nuke while it chilled in the fridge.

She was just at the point where she could look at a Quartz and not get angry; right after House had died, she'd ordered two dozen from the room service terminal in the Presidential Suite. Usually securitrons would deliver whatever was ordered within an hour, but it never came. Layla hadn't found the exact reason, but eventually declared it to be one of the other many systems of House's that had stopped working when they'd taken him offline.

Not getting the Nukes wasn't a problem, it was that the money had already been deposited in the terminal and couldn't be refunded. She'd come damn close to punching the machine in.

Shaking the thought away, she decided to let it go. It was going to be a nice, quiet evening, and she wasn't going to let House ruin it from the grave. As the elevator door opened, she got the feeling she was mistaken about her evening.

Boone, Cass and Arcade stood in the hallway, all looking worried. Veronica was about to ask what was wrong when she heard a loud thud from Layla's room.

"What was that?" she cried. The others turned her way, and she noticed they had all adopted a similar awkward look.

"What?" she asked again. Arcade cleared his throat.

"I think Layla should tell you," he answered.

"Oh that's real mature," Cass grumbled.

"I don't want her to hit me," he said defensively, glancing at Veronica's powerfist. "Layla asked to see you when you got in anyway."

There was another loud thud and what sounded like crashing in the master bedroom, and Veronica paused. She looked Boone's way.

"Uh, wanna come with?"

"No thanks," he answered.

"Oh come on," the scribe cried, grabbing the sniper by the wrist and dragging him to the bedroom door. She knocked gingerly.

"Layla?" Her voice was drowned out by another crash, and Veronica opened the door.

"Sic semper tyrannosaurus!" Layla cried as she threw her dinky toy at the wall. Veronica looked around the room. It didn't look trashed at all, but the scribe noticed a dent in the wall roughly at fist-level.

The Courier turned their way and stopped. Veronica had never seen Layla this angry before, ever. She was clearly livid, but her expression softened as she saw them, and she looked embarrassed.

"What happened?" the scribe asked. Layla glanced up to Boone.

"Did anyone tell her anything?" she asked.

"No," he answered.

She nodded, then looked to Veronica. The Courier took a deep breath, then started speaking rapidly.

"We went for our next assignment from Colonel Moore."

"And?" the scribe prompted.

"She asked that we blow up the Hidden Valley and destroy the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel."

Veronica stared at her. "… What?"

Layla sighed again and sat on her bed. She started rubbing her right hand, which Veronica noticed was reddened.

"Moore wants all potential problems dealt with before the war comes to a head. She's got half an idea of where the Brotherhood is, and I guess a ranger went missing in the area. So she wants me to find them and 'kill them to the last man.'"

Veronica felt her stomach start churning. "What are you going to do?" she sputtered.

"I don't know," Layla groaned. "Fucking hell. God damn fucking hell." she searched around the floor for a moment and found the dino toy again. "This is why I killed House, remember?" She threw the toy at the wall again. It bounced off with a thud.

"If you don't do something-" Boone started before Layla interrupted.

"I know, I know, she'll get someone else. This is sounding way too familiar and I don't like it." she put her head in her hands for a moment.

"Okay," she finally looked up, "I'm not doing anything about it for now. I've got to think, get out of here for a while." she stood, "I might go talk with Colonel Hsu…"

"Do you think he can come up with something?" Veronica asked.

"No." Layla frowned. "I don't think this something we'll be able to just skirt around, but I need to talk to a NCR officer I actually like." She shook her head, and stood, "I won't do anything about the Brotherhood without letting you know."

"Why don't I go with you now?"

"I'm going alone," the Courier answered, throwing her backpack over her shoulder. "I need to think." Veronica noticed Boone give her a concerned look, and Layla turned his way before he could speak.

"I'll be okay, just going to ride the monorail over and back," she said.

"Layla…"

"Don't 'Layla' me. I'll be fine," she growled, then left the room before anyone could stop her. Veronica and Boone followed and found Raul blocking the Courier's way to the elevator.

"Where are you going at this hour?" he asked.

"Out." Layla frowned. "Please get out of the way."

"Boss, you're upset. And you're not so good at defending yourself when you are."

"Raul…" There was that 'leader' tone. It was normally very effective, but the ghoul looked unimpressed.

"Listen," he started, appropriating his own stern tone. "You're not thinking clearly. And that's a perfect time for anyone to come along and snatch you up or take you out."

"I can take care of myself." Layla was starting to sound angry.

"Normally, I'd agree," the Raul answered, "but you don't even have a gun in your holster."

Layla looked down at her hip, then back up a the ghoul.

"… Fine, you can come."

"I'm going too," Boone said, and Layla groaned.

*.*.*

"I can't help but think you're upset about something," Colonel Hsu said as Layla glowered at his desk. She'd come into his office on the pretense of checking up on the camp, but she couldn't get Moore out of her head. Now she was just trying not to take it out on any random person wearing a NCR uniform.

Looking up at him, she sighed as she caught sight of his expression. If Layla had to describe Colonel Hsu in one word, it would be 'understanding.' He merely gave her a slight smile, and she got the feeling he knew at least some of her problem already.

"Things going well at Hoover Dam?" he asked, confirming that suspicion.

"Just wonderful," Layla grumbled. "Let's just say I'm taking a break from helping Moore while I figure out how to not commit treason around her."

Hsu laughed at that. "I hear that's a hard charge to avoid with her."

"So how are things around here?" she asked, deciding to change the subject. "Calm without the Fiends running rampant?"

"Definitely a lot better. I suspect a lot of our troubles came from Curtis as well." Layla nodded. The frumentarius had been working unopposed for quite a while before she and Boone had stepped in.

"The current hot button is the ranger stations," he continued.

"Oh?" Layla asked, then bit her lip. "Oh no, not like Charlie…"

"No, nothing that bad yet," Hsu said, grimacing. The Ranger station near Novac had been overrun by Legionaries months ago. Layla had gone to check on it, only to find it torn apart and the only survivor captured.

"They've been facing a lot of trouble, and supplies haven't been getting to them like they should. I've asked Sergeant Reyes at Forlorn Hope to look into it. Something about the whole situation isn't right."

Layla frowned. She'd delivered the updated comm frequencies for Sergeant Reyes earlier when she'd first detected trouble with the intel getting passed to the Rangers. The soldier had hoped the change would improve communications, but clearly it hadn't. She didn't like the sound of any of this. Standing, she adjusted her straps on her armor.

"I'll go take a look," she said, and Hsu smiled.

"Thought you might. Just be careful."

"Oh, I'm always careful."

*.*.*

"No, there weren't any god damned Legionary Super Mutants. The Legion doesn't have any mutants!" Ranger Pason all but shouted at Layla. The Courier smiled despite his outburst.

"We didn't really think that sounded right, either." The Ranger looked irritated, and she continued. "Do you have any clue how this report could have come up? Something that could have been misconstrued as mutants?"

"If there was, it wasn't from our end. That squad got taken out because of stupidity. They were goofing around with grenades and blew themselves to hell. No mutants, nothing that even sounded like mutants was mentioned."

The Courier bit her lip. That was more troubling than relieving. They'd agreed to check up on the weird reports Sergeant Reyes had been getting from Camp Golf about the ranger stations. They'd been as tame as too much ammo going to Bravo and as ridiculous as the Great Khans using trained Deathclaws at Foxtrot.

Shaking her head, Layla looked back to Pason. "Thanks for the help. Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this."

"Just make sure no one thinks I'm spreading these stories about super mutant Legionaries," the man grumbled back.

*.*.*

"Well, that was interesting," Layla mused as she, Raul and Boone started back down Mt. Charleston later that day. "We definitely need to talk with Reyes again."

"What? Just because someone from Ranger HQ is sending fake, ridiculous reports, doesn't mean trouble." Raul replied.

"I can't understand why someone's doing this," the Courier continued. "It's too bizarre to be Legion." Glancing at Boone and Raul, she saw them both shrug in response.

"Gotta use the little ghoul's room," Raul said a moment later, ducking behind a rock while Layla and Boone came to a stop.

There was something very wrong about all this, the Courier mused while waiting. Reyes had shown her the reports, they'd come from Golf, but so many had been inaccurate. They were either misleading or insane. They were going to have to figure out what was going on-

She jumped when Boone snapped of a few shots, taking out a giant mantis she hadn't seen. Layla watched as Boone slung his rifle. He caught her looking and stared back for a moment.

"What?" he eventually asked, sounding suspicious.

"Let me fire your rifle." She'd been curious about the huge rifle she'd gotten Boone for Christmas ever since she'd laid eyes on it. As for the sniper, whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it hadn't been that. Now he stared at her, long enough for her to put her hands on her hips.

"Come on! Please?" She stuck out her lower lip and batted her eyelashes at him. She'd done it overly exaggerated, but she knew it'd work. He sighed, pulling the anti-materiel rifle from his back. Looking around, he pointed further down the path.

"There's another mantis…" He handed her the gun, and she nearly tipped over when he let go of its weight. She let out a nervous laugh and raised the gun awkwardly to eye level, looking through the scope. The huge insect was scuttling near a set of boulders several yards away from them. The Courier tried to track it, but found moving the rifle made her unsteady on her feet.

"You're going to kill yourself," she heard Boone say and looked up from the scope to find him moving closer. "Here, hold it up again."

Raising the rifle again in the mantis's direction, she peeked through the scope. As she did, Boone stepped behind her and moved her hands to a more natural position, which pressed her shoulder into the butt of the gun. The sniper then put his arms around her, hands moving to hold the rifle next to hers.

"Give yourself enough room from the scope, or you'll knock your eye out." She immediately moved her head back. "Good. Now you've got to track your target smoothly."

"Okay." With his hands keeping the rifle steady, she aimed at the huge bug and moved the rifle as it skittered about.

"Breathe in, and midway through your exhale, pull the trigger."

"Okay." She felt him brace his arms for the shot and she tracked the mantis again. As she breathed out, she fired. The resulting boom was deafening, and the recoil knocked her back into Boone's chest, but the mantis exploded into green mist. She let out a whoop in response, giggling.

She then suddenly realized she was pressed into Boone with his arms tightly around her. She got the feeling he realized it too by the way he'd stiffened just marginally. It was at about that moment she caught sight of Raul coming back.

The ghoul merely looked at the pair, slowly shaking his head as they hastily untangled from each other.

"Don't worry on my account. You two can go back to whatever that was…" he said to Layla, who was blushing pretty badly. Boone was trying to look busy giving the area a careful scan for hostiles.

"I, we were… you know," Layla stuttered. "There was no-"

"Get down!" Boone barked suddenly, grabbing the Courier and pulled her to one of the nearby boulders. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, she heard gunfire from further down the path. Peeking around the rock, she saw a pack of Legionaries. Raul, who was on the other side of he road behind his own boulder, started returning fire.

Layla had to duck down as she saw what she was pretty sure was a centurion spot her and start firing in her direction.

"Hey! They're shooting at us…" Layla said, perplexed.

"I noticed, boss," Raul grumbled, leaning over his rock and firing again.

"But… the bounty-" A legionary appeared above her and Boone, standing on top of the boulder they were pressed against.

"The Legate has marked you for death!" he announced. Layla gaped at the proclamation. The man started to bring his gun to bear, but Boone swung his machete, cutting his foot off at the ankle. Screaming, the man toppled over the other side of the rock.

Before she could recover, there was the sound of gunfire from behind their position and a grunt of pain from Boone.

Turning, she found two other assassins had come up from behind. Layla quickly pulled a grenade from her bag and threw it their way, then shot her .45 in their direction, hoping to distract them until the explosive detonated. The resulting boom threw dirt at them and had pulped the Legionaries.

Hearing Boone groan, she finally looked his way and gasped. There were two bullet wounds in his side. Ducking back down behind their boulder, she took a closer look. One looked like it had hit muscle and gone clean through his side. The other one may have hit his intestines. That was something she couldn't operate on by herself and definitely couldn't be addressed while they were still getting shot at.

"Shit shit shit," she grumbled, then called over the rock, "Raul, keep them busy."

"That was the plan, boss," came from the other side of the road as Layla pressed Boone's hands against his wounds, then hunkered down and frantically rooted through her bag. The sniper leaned heavily against the boulder as she did, looking pale.

"You still with me, Boone?" she asked as he started sliding down the rock.

"Yeah," came his hazy reply. He was sitting on the ground now. Layla pulled the NCR emergency radio from her bag and flipped it on. She wasn't entirely sure where the signal was going, but she seemed to remember it was a general frequency. Hopefully the rangers up the mountain had the code as well as their specific frequencies.

"Hello? Station Foxtrot, this is Layla. We've been ambushed by Legionaries at the bottom of the mountain. Please send help. We've got wounded."

"Do they usually answer?" Raul called over as he reloaded. Looking ahead of their position again, the Courier frowned at the remaining five Legionaries.

"Most of the time…" She ducked down as more gunfire peppered her rock. "I hope this time too."

She heard Raul swear after another round of fire and found him clutching his left arm. He caught her looking his way and shrugged.

"Just a flesh wound… 'Course I've got no skin…"

"How bad is it bleeding?" Layla called to him as she threw her last grenade. She cursed her spotty aim with explosives as the grenade went off and the Legionaries kept firing.

"It's not good," came a strained reply.

"Well that's just great." She thought she heard something behind her and turned, hoping the rangers at Foxtrot had come for them. Instead, she found a super sledge swinging for her head.

"Gah!" Barely dodging out of the way, she fired at the assassin. The shot went wide, and he swung again. Layla didn't move fast enough and the weapon glanced off her leg. Some part of her mind was thankful it had only been a minor hit, but it still managed to knock her down.

Her attacker lifted the hammer to swing again, but a shot from Boone's direction knocked him off his feet. Before he could get up, a bumper sword nearly cleaved him in two.

"Lily!" Layla cried, relieved as she saw the super mutant pull her blade free and rush for the remaining Legionaries. Behind her were Kudlow and the rest of the rangers from Foxtrot. Layla caught Raul's relieved expression as he ducked down and let the others take out the remaining assassins.

"Stay down, dear," Lily bellowed to her, and Layla could hear surprised screams coming from the assassins.

Layla hobbled back over to Boone, who was definitely unconscious now. Blood poured from his side, and the Courier quickly pressed her hands against the wounds. She wasn't exactly sure how he'd managed to fire at the Legionary attacking her, but didn't dwell on it.

"Are you guys done yet?" she called to the rangers and Lily over the sounds of screams. They needed to get Boone help. He wouldn't last much longer if he kept bleeding this badly.

"Yeah," Kudlow said, appearing at her side a moment later. "Is he still alive?"

"Yes," Layla snapped, a little harsher than she'd meant to, "but he's lost a lot of blood."

"We'll get him to Doctor Henry," Lily said as she made her way to them. Moving past the ranger, she bent down and scooped Boone up, and spoke in a calm, commanding tone to Kudlow, "Cover our backs, they may have left traps."

"We've got to hurry," Layla said as she picked up his rifle and slung it over her back.

The super mutant nodded and started running up the mountain, the others following close behind.

*.*.*

Boone was acutely aware of pain lancing down his side as he felt the world coming back to him. Opening his eyes, he found a group of people looking over him. He recognized the rangers from Foxtrot. A moment later, Layla's grinning face came into view.

"Well, Boone, that's a new record for you," she said. "You shot a Legionary while unconscious."

"Huhn?" He tried to sit up, but Doc Henry appeared and put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He finally recognized where he was, the ski lodge in Jacobstown.

"Lie still, son, you've lost a lot of blood. We're about to give you another transfusion."

"I'm looking forward to 'peppy Boone' personally." Layla grinned at Henry, then looked back down at the sniper. "Transfusions usually add a little jump in your step."

"Raul?" Boone asked, figuring the ghoul was okay by Layla's demeanor.

"Right here." The ghoul's face appeared over him now. "That was real impressive back there. Of course, you nearly hit Layla…"

"Don't take away his shining moment in oblivion," Layla said, then smiled back down at him. "The most I ever do while I'm out cold is drool."

"How is he, dear?" Boone heard Lily call from somewhere further away.

"He's awake," Layla answered, and a moment later the super mutant was now in his crowded view.

"Oh good. We were worried," she said. "You got blood everywhere."

"She and Kudlow saved our bacon," Layla explained. "I guess that emergency radio signal goes just about everywhere."

"Thanks," Boone croaked at the super mutant and the rangers. He swallowed; it felt like he'd eaten sandpaper before passing out.

"Think nothing of it, dear," Lily answered. "I'll go put some soup on," she said as she disappeared from his view. Boone noticed Layla watch her go and caught the exhausted look that flashed across her face for a moment.

"You okay?" he asked, and the Courier smiled down at him.

"I'm not the one who got a few new holes punched in them recently. It was pretty touch and go for a few minutes there…"

"Still alive," he answered, and she gave him a wry grin. "You look worn-out too," he continued.

"You're a real smooth talker with the ladies," Raul said to that, and Layla laughed.

"At least he didn't say I look like a jet whore. I'll get some sleep once we've got you settled."

"He's in the clear, but none of you are going anywhere tonight," Doc Henry admonished.

"We'll start up again in the morning," Layla said, holding her hands up placatingly, "Everyone just needs a good night's sleep. Some of us need two bags of blood. But mostly just sleep."

"I think we're going to have to be more careful when we move out," Raul said thoughtfully. "Looks like Lanius isn't shopping for a bride anymore."

"They're definitely trying to kill us now…" Boone rasped.

"Yeah, I'm afraid the good times are over," Layla responded while putting on the sniper's sunglasses and hat. "You go ahead and sleep, I'm gonna go impersonate you while you're recuperating."

Boone thought about demanding his beret back, but found himself too tired to care.

"Let me aim that for you next time," he heard Layla say to Raul in a gruff voice as he closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>Hope you enjoyed the new chapter! As for the questions posed by two of my reviewers: Atlan, it will be very apparent as to which of the stories coming will cover Lonesome Road. And Black Muse, there isn't going to be any stories that just cover Gun Runners Arsonel or Courier's Stash, but some of the items will show up here and there. In fact (as I've always had the Classic Pack) I wrote in an item for a later story months ago.<p>

**10/17/11 - Sorry kids, looks like I'm going to have to postpone the next update until Saturday. I'm really busy with work this week and falling asleep at the keyboard doesn't make for a good chapter. :s**


	3. Ducks in a Row

"Look what that horse's ass did to me!" Layla cried, rolling up her pant leg and revealing the black and purple bruise the Legionary assassin's super sledge had given her. She sat at the head of Boone's cot as she explained the Legion ambush. The sniper had popped a stitch on the walk over to Forlorn Hope and been patched up while Dr. Richards, Lt. Gorobets and Sterling all lectured him on the dangers of overexertion after an injury. Soon after, the other members of 1st Recon had wandered in the medical tent, wondering what had happened.

"So he's about to cave my head in," the Courier continued. "And of course I miss when I shoot at him. Next thing I know he gets knocked down by a shot and Lily ends up skewering him before he gets up. But the crazy thing was the shot had come from Boone. I was pretty sure he was out cold by then." The Courier looked down at the sniper in question. "Were you out? Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really," Boone replied, and the others laughed.

"So now they want you dead? I wish these assholes would make up their minds," Betsy groused.

"I wish they'd leave me alone," Layla retorted.

"You're the one shot them up while you were their guest," came from Raul.

"Excuse me?" Layla cried. "I barely shot anyone! That was all you and Trigger Happy here," she said, poking Boone in the shoulder.

"Didn't here you complaining at the time," the sniper replied.

"Yeah, well, I was too busy hiding behind you," the Courier said, then stood from the bed. "Well, I guess I'd better go talk with Reyes," she said, stretching.

"She was ask-k-k-king about you," 10 of Spades said from the back of the tent.

"I'd better go then." She looked around at the other members of 1st Recon. "Can you guys keep an eye on Boone? You know how much trouble he gets into when I leave him alone."

The others laughed as Layla left the tent smiling. She always felt like she was visiting well-liked in-laws when around 1st Recon. Deciding not to dwell on what that might mean, she made for the command tent.

Sergeant Reyes was where the Courier had left her, sitting behind her desk. She looked tired, and Layla tried not to startle her as she approached.

"Hello again," she said, and Reyes turned to look at her.

"Hey, what did you end up finding?"

"No trained Deathclaws, that's for sure," the Courier answered. Reyes shook her head.

"I didn't really think you would. Did any of them have an explanation?"

"No," Layla said, shaking her head. "Nothing even close to what had been reported was true. Nothing that could have been misinterpreted either. It was just all wrong."

"That's disturbing," the other woman sighed. "All of the false reports were signed off by Chief Hanlon."

"What?" Layla cried. "How could that be?"

"I don't know, but going by this evidence, someone at Camp Golf is intentionally sending out false information."

That thought felt like a punch in the stomach.

"Who would do that?"

"I don't know," Reyes grumbled. "But people have gotten killed from this bad intell."

"… So what should we do?" the Courier asked.

"Take the evidence to Hanlon," Reyes said. "He'll be able to get to the bottom of it."

She trailed off. Layla's stomach started twisting in knots.

"All right, I'll get it sorted out," she said, and Reyes nodded.

On the walk back to the medical tent, Layla tried to decide her next course of action. She wanted Boone to take Dr. Richards' advice and rest for another day before moving on. She also wanted to get to the bottom of this situation immediately. By the time she pulled the tent open, she had a plan.

"I'd only left her alone ten minutes before the Khans had grabbed her. We think that's the current record," Raul was explaining to the others gathered in the tent.

"Hey!" Layla cried as the occupants of the tent turned her way. "I thought we weren't going to talk about this?"

"Oh, hey boss," Raul said casually. "Didn't see you there."

Layla glared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Anyway," she said, "I'm heading to Camp Golf."

"I thought we were waiting a day?" Raul asked.

"You are," Layla answered. "I'm going to head over now. You two can come join me tomorrow."

"What's the rush?" the ghoul pressed.

"I've got to speak with Chief Hanlon. It's important." Layla said firmly, then gave Raul a wry smile. "I'll be fine, I've even got a gun in my holster this time."

"You shouldn't go alone," Boone spoke up. "The Legion wants us dead…"

"She doesn't have to go alone," Gorobets said, then looked over to his team. "Sterling and Bitter-Root were going to make a run to the 188 anyway," he turned to the two snipers. "See the lady that far."

"Yes sir," Sterling said, and Layla smiled.

"Thank you." She turned her grin in Boone's direction; she knew the sniper wouldn't like this idea, "See? I'll be fine."

"I'm still going," Boone grumbled, sitting up. Layla sighed loudly and looked to Gorobets. Judging by his shrug, he was just as familiar with the other man's stubborn streak.

"You're still getting escorted," the lieutenant said as Boone levered himself out of the cot. "No sense taking chances while you're injured."

No one argued that.

*.*.*

"Finally, someone who's actually injured," Doc Sawbones muttered as Boone eased into a chair in Camp Golf's medical tent. Layla gave the man a questioning look, and he shrugged.

"There's not much going on around here. The troops are bored and come to me with the most inane problems. Sometimes I think they're just here for free suckers," Sawbones grumbled while Boone pulled off his shirt. A few moments later, the doctor had the bandages off and was inspecting the surgery site. There had been blood on the sniper's bandages by the time they'd parted ways with Bitter-Root and Sterling. They'd wanted to see them all the way to Golf, but Layla had been fairly sure his wound was just seeping and nothing to worry about.

She kind of felt bad for dragging Boone all over the place while he was hurt. The situation definitely needed to be looked into, but she didn't want to push his injured body. Sure, if he'd just listened to her or any of the doctor's they'd seen lately, he'd been in Jacobstown resting, but he could be stubborn if he wanted to.

"This is healing nicely. You should be as good as new in a few days," Sawbones said as he wrapped fresh bandages around the sniper's torso.

"Good," Raul said. "I've seen the inside of more medical tents than I cared to in the last two days."

"Agreed," Layla said, then smiled. "We'll be sticking around here for a while though. In fact, I've got to talk with Chief Hanlon… I'll come find you when we're done."

Boone nodded as he pulled his shirt back on. When Layla didn't move, he gave her a questioning look, one that was joined by Raul and Sawbones.

"So… do you really have suckers?" she asked the doctor.

Sawbones sighed loudly as he reached over to open a drawer full of them.

*.*.*

Soon she was stepping out onto the balcony where she'd first met the Chief. He was on his seat by the radio, looking out at Lake Mead.

"Hello Chief," Layla said, and the old man turned her way.

"Hey there, Kiddo. I hear the Legion's gone back to shooting at you. How's Boone?"

"Recovering," she answered, smiling. Hanlon was usually the best informed person in the Mojave, which brought her back to the problem at hand.

"There's something I'd like to talk to you about…" she started.

"Well, pull up a seat," Hanlon said, indicating a chair on the other side of balcony. Layla dragged it over while the Chief pulled a sarsaparilla from a bucket at his feet and set it on her side of the table.

"What's bothering you?" he said as she got settled, then laughed. "Well, I imagine there's plenty bothering you. But what was so important that made you travel out here with an injured man?"

"Well…" Layla gathered her thoughts before she spoke. "It's about some strange reports we've been getting. I've been speaking with Sergeant Reyes at Forlorn Hope about it."

"Strange she'd have you look into it," Hanlon said, looking out a the lake again.

"Forlorn Hope is still a little rocky, and she'd been having trouble getting anyone to help," she answered.

"Well, what was in these reports?"

"Reyes had been receiving information that supposedly came from the Rangers, but it was all strange and didn't make much sense. I personally went to the worst ones to check on them, but they all came back the same: none of the reports were true, and none of them were coming from the Ranger stations."

"There could be a bunch of reasons for that," Hanlon said. "The most likely is this Reyes got her paperwork mixed up. That happens from time to time."

Layla bit her lip. "I'd agree with you, but these reports mentioned things like trained deathclaws and super mutant legionaries, and they were signed off from Camp Golf… by you."

Hanlon frowned at that. He scratched his beard and looked at the lake again.

"That's damn worrisome," he said. "We're going to have to look into it. Someone might be intercepting the documents..."

"Yeah," Layla said. She was going to have to talk to the others herself. Something was very wrong about this, but she understood she didn't know about the day-to-day operations of the comm officers. She wasn't about to go throwing around blame without knowing what was happening for sure.

"Tell you what, I'll have the other comm techs look into this. We'll get it figured out," Hanlon offered. "Are you kids going to stay the night here?"

"That was the plan… if you didn't mind, that is."

"Of course not. I'll have a couple rooms made up for you."

Layla smiled.

"Thank you."

*.*.*

Boone never realized how many muscles in his side he used to hold up his rifle. Now he could count each individual one as he slowly breathed through his nose, trying to ignore the pain.

Despite the distraction, his aim seemed to be as accurate as usual as he practiced at Camp Golf's firing range. He'd heard that Hanlon could talk your ear off; if he and Layla got going, they could be a while.

Lowering his gun, he noticed the only other person at the range; a woman who grimaced as she fired. Curious, he looked at her target through his scope. Her grouping was fair, but she needed practice. Lowering his rifle, he found her looking his way.

"You're the one with the Courier? The one who killed Caesar, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered simply, hoping the woman didn't want to talk about what had happened. He wasn't much of a storyteller; that was Layla's department.

This soldier, a corporal by her rank insignia, held her hand out to him. "You've made all our jobs a little easier."

He shook her hand. "Doesn't mean we can let our guard down."

"Don't I know it," she said sourly. "This whole camp is full of lazy fuckers. No one wants to keep up with training. If the Legion came our way, we'd be fucked." Her glower faded just slightly as she looked at him again. "I'm Mags, and I'm in charge of the Misfits."

He raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. "We're the dregs of the army. I didn't make the cut for ranger so I'm stuck here. The others are just wasting their time and waiting to get sent home."

Mags waved over three other soldiers, who joined them.

"This is Razz," she indicated a younger guy with a mohawk, "Poindexter," a sour-looking man with glasses, "and O'Hanrahan." The tall kid with a shock of orange hair stuck his hand out.

"Please to meet you, sir," he said as Boone shook his hand.

"What's this about, Mags?" Poindexter muttered, giving Boone a side-long look.

"Just letting you get a look at an actual war hero," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "This is Boone, the guy that shot Caesar."

That got their attention, though it only seemed to impress O'Hanrahan. Personally, Boone wished people wouldn't make such a big deal about it.

"You were 1st Recon, right?" Mags asked, eyeing his beret.

"Yeah."

"Do you think you could help us with our marksmanship? We're about to go through our weapons qualification, and we'd appreciate some help."

Boone frowned. Layla had said they'd be at the camp for a least a day. The sun was already starting to go down, so tonight would be no good to practice at the range. The Courier probably wasn't going to need his help working out intel details with Hanlon, and getting in trouble surrounded by veteran rangers was pretty unlikely, even for her.

"Sure," he answered, noticing Mags' delight at his response. Poindexter and Razz didn't look so happy.

"We'll shoot tomorrow," he continued. "Tonight you should run PT drills until lights out."

"What? Why!" Poindexter cried.

"Helps you focus." That was bullshit, but the only thing he ever picked up about getting people to work together from his own training was to give them a common enemy. The Legion didn't seem to be good enough for the Misfits, so he'd have to do. They'd band together if he was a big enough ass to them.

The Misfits were in various shades of disgruntled when the sniper saw Razz focus on something back down the hill.

"Oh great, here comes the official NCR brown-noser."

Turning to look, Boone saw Layla wave as she approached the shooting range, Raul in tow.

"Hey! There you are." She approached the group. "I guess I should have just assumed when I heard gunfire that you had something to do with it," she said, grinning at the sniper. "Looks like the rangers are putting us up for the night in the resort. They've got feather beds, and they're clean!"

Hearing Razz mutter something about 'little princess getting what she wants' behind him, he nodded to Layla, then turned back. The kid balked as Boone glared at him.

"Well, looks like we'll start up in the morning," Mags said.

"Be out here again at 0500," Boone said, still glaring at Razz. "For now, run drills. Lots of them." Mags laughed at that.

"Well, you heard the man, move out!" As the rest of Misfits scurried off, Boone turned to find Layla grinning at him.

"Making friends?"

"Sort of," he said.

"Just wanted to check." She grinned. "You weren't waving guns in their faces, so it's hard to tell."

"I only do that with your friends."

* * *

><p>Thanks for your patience this week, I worked a whole ass-ton. Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting and alerting... in whatever combination of those you'll do. You kids are the best :3<p> 


	4. Dragging Your Feet

"I feel the need to tell you that this is technically illegal," the veteran ranger said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Neat," Layla said, looking down the sights of the Ranger Sequoia in the early morning light. "Is this thing going to take my arm off?"

"Maybe," answered the ranger, a ghoul named Bellamy. "How strong are you?"

"Not very," Layla admitted as she pulled the hammer back on the revolver. "I'm better than I was before."

"Well, just try not to let it bounce back into your face," the ranger said.

Raul stood further away, wondering if Layla would manage to put her eye out. The Courier adjusted her stance, aimed down the range again and fired. The shot hit the paper but not the target, which was impressive considering the girl nearly fell over from the gun's recoil.

"Woah there!" Bellamy said as he took Layla's arm to steady her. "Why don't you give that back before you get killed?"

"Aw, can't I borrow it?" She grinned as she looked down at the gun. It was only issued to twenty-year veteran rangers, like a medal.

"I mentioned the illegal part, right?"

"You rangers and your 'rules.'" Layla gave him her mock-pout as she handed back the gun. "I'm never gonna get to play with one again."

"You ever think about being a ranger?"

The girl stared at him for a moment, then looked to Raul. They both started laughing at the same time. Once Layla had wiped the tears from her eyes, she noted Bellamy giving her a cross look.

"Oh! Please don't take that wrong. It would be an honor, but I am _not_ Ranger material."

"That's not what I hear," the ranger countered.

"Have you ever heard about her first gun?" Raul said, and noticed Layla turn his way.

"Who told you about that? Oh why am I even asking. When did Cass tell you?"

"Actually, it was Arcade," the ghoul said cheerily. The Courier gave him a sour face, then turned back to Bellamy.

"Well, I'd fight by your side any day," the ranger said. Layla's face split into a smile.

"Thank you," she said. "And I'd be really happy to have a ranger in my corner any day."

There was a chorus of groans from further down the firing range, and the three of them looked over. Boone was with the Misfits, who all looked miserable. The sniper had taken it upon himself to make the group into a 'working unit.' That meant he was putting them through hell.

Layla smiled in their direction, then turned to Raul. "I'm going to speak with Chief Hanlon. Why don't you give Boone a hand?"

"Sounds good, Boss." He made his way over as he heard the Courier thank Bellamy.

*.*.*

"Well, it looks like you were right," Chief Hanlon said as Layla walked out onto the balcony. "Someone was tampering with our reports."

"Oh?" The Courier was surprised by how quick they'd been able to track down the problem. Then again, she wasn't a ranger; they tended to get the job done. "What happened?"

"Private Nettle had been delivering the transmissions for the last few months. He personally handled all of the false reports."

"He did it?" She sat back on the chair. "What was his angle? Legion?"

"We're still trying to sort it out," Hanlon said. "Nettle was a bit of a screw-up at times. We've got eye-witness accounts that he'd always stop at the 188 on the way to Forlorn Hope. Most of the time he would wet his whistle a little more than necessary. Best we figured, someone must have been taking advantage of the situation."

"Oh…" Layla frowned. That made sense. Everyone knows troops go back and forth from the 188. If some drunkard private wasn't careful, someone could take advantage. Something didn't seem right, but she had no other information. "Have you spoken with him yet?"

"That's going to be a problem," Hanlon sighed. "He was killed in a Legion ambush two weeks ago."

"Oh." Layla felt her stomach turn. "…Poor guy. I guess that'll make it hard to get the whole story."

"I'm afraid so," Hanlon said. "We'll investigate as best we can."

"Well… I'm glad we've gotten that figured out," she said. "You don't mind if I speak with the comm techs, do you? I don't really know how the whole process works. I figured it would be good to know for future reference."

"Knock yourself out, kiddo," Hanlon said as Layla stood to leave. She thought for a moment the Chief looked uncomfortable, but he gave her a grin.

"Tell Boone a few of the rangers have a pool going on how long before the Misfits mutiny on him."

*.*.*

Boone shook his head. For the fifth time, Mags was the only one who'd hit the target more than once in a round.

"That was terrible," he said with disgust. "From now on, whoever misses the target with any of their shots has to do ten laps around the camp, then shoot again until they get it right."

"How is that going to make us shoot better?" Poindexter grumbled.

"Now it's 15. Get moving."

Soon the soldiers were jogging away. Since this morning, they'd already stopped yelling at each other, instead muttering curses at him under their breath. Good progress, but now that they were actually working on their combat ability, things had slowed down.

Raul sat in a lounge chair nearby, sombrero over his eyes and drink at his side. The ghoul had been useful for keeping the Misfits in line. They were terrified of him, especially after he'd shot a bottle of water out of Poindexter's hand.

Boone knew they were close to giving up and refusing to work with him, but Mags and O'Hanrahan seemed to earnestly want to improve. He just needed to get them to actually show improvement. Once they gained that confidence about their abilities, things would go easier.

Poindexter came back first from the laps. Boone wouldn't have suspected the man would be the quickest of the bunch. He was barely winded, but he did look angry as he approached Boone.

"Listen, I'm only here for a pension. I don't have any desire to get noticed by the higher-ups," the private glowered. "None of this is going to accomplish anything anyway. All you're doing is making things even more miserable." Boone felt his jaw tighten, and he reared up on the other man.

"You ever watch a friend die?" he growled. When Poindexter shook his head, he continued. "You haven't had to watch as someone you cared about die in combat?"

The man shook his head again, and Boone grimaced. "Well aren't you lucky? When fuckers like you decide to half-ass it, people _die_. It might not be your friends, but you're killing them just as quickly as the Legion."

By now, the rest of the Misfits had returned. They stood a few feet away from Poindexter and Boone, looking nervous. He turned to them, glaring.

"I thought I told you to run laps!" he barked.

"We just did!" Razz cried.

"I didn't see any laps getting run. Did you see any?" he called to Raul.

"Nope," the ghoul replied from under his hat. "Better do them again."

Once the shocked looks wore off, Mags sighed loudly and started running again. Soon the others followed. Boone watched them go, wishing he hadn't lost his cool. Poindexter's attitude wasn't unique in the Mojave, and it pissed him off.

He spun around as he heard someone approach him. Layla was giving him a startled look, and he realized he'd automatically glowered at her, expecting one of the Misfits.

"…Things going well?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

"Just ducky, boss," said Raul as he lifted his hat from his face. "At the rate we're going, we'll have them deserting in no time. That is what we're going for, right?"

Boone gave him a real glare, but the ghoul merely chuckled.

"I just wanted to see how things were going," Layla said. "How's your side?" He turned it in her direction, and she pulled his shirt up. There was no blood on the bandages.

"Good. If you can take it easy, you'll be good as new before we know it," she said, pulling his shirt down. "Tonight you'd better have Sawbones rewrap it again, just to make sure."

He gave her a mildly annoyed look, but nodded, and she smiled as she watched the Misfits jog by. "Poor guys," the Courier said, looking back to Boone. "When are you going to shoot them and put them out their misery?"

That gave him an idea, and Layla gave him a strange look at the devious smile that slid onto his face.

*.*.*

Ranger Gilmore was the tallest woman Layla had ever laid eyes on. She also managed to look beautiful and like she could kill you with a toothpick at the same time. As the woman put her feet up on her desk, Layla wondered briefly if she could set her up with Veronica.

"Nettle was a fair soldier, but he got himself into constant trouble," the ranger said, taking off her sunglasses. "Did the chief tell you what happened?"

"Yeah, the reports getting messed up," Layla answered. "If Nettle was unreliable, why was he trusted to take vital intel to Forlorn Hope?"

"He never knew he was bringing anything vital. He thought his deliveries were meteorological research. They were, but he'd also run the reports without his knowledge. As to why we used him, the info always made it to its target in a timely manner. It wasn't until right before he got killed did we pick up he came back drunk half the time."

"Came _back_ drunk?" Layla said, frowning. "I thought he got drunk on the way out?"

"No, on the way back. Major Polatli would have killed him if he'd shown up hammered."

Layla sat back, forgetting the half-cocked plan she'd figured out to get the other woman to agree on a blind date. She stood, looking the ranger's way again.

"Thanks, that's helpful."

A few moments later, she pulled her bag where she'd stowed it in her room. The copies of the sabotaged intel were still in their folder were she left them. A horrible realization was starting to dawn on her, but she wasn't going to act without proof.

*.*.*

Raul knew he was going to like this 'shape up the Misfits' plan, but he hadn't been prepared for how much he was enjoying it. It came to a head after Boone had sent them on another round of laps while he went into the resort. A few minutes later, he came back with a riot shotgun.

"I know they're pretty hopeless…" the ghoul said, "but taking them out seems a little extreme."

The sniper grinned at him, holding up the beanbag rounds. Raul couldn't help but laugh as the Misfits came back, gasping for air.

"Ba-back on the r-range?" Mags gasped as she got to Boone.

"No, we're going see about your teamwork." He gave them enough time to catch their breath, then continued.

"You are a team. If you don't act like one, your team will die. If your team is dead, no one is watching your back. So no one can stop this from happening." He raised the shotgun and shot Razz in the gut. The man fell to the ground with a howl.

"Or this." He hit Mags in the leg, and she went down.

"Or this." He turned in Poindexter's direction, but was suddenly tackled before he could fire. Sitting up, he found himself tangled up with O'Hanrahan. The private looked like he couldn't believe his own actions and immediately got to his feet, offering Boone his hand.

"I-I just…" he sputtered while Boone stood.

"Why did you do that?" the sniper demanded.

"I… y-you said to watch your team…" O'Hanrahan blurted out, and Boone had to bite back a smile.

"Good." He looked to the others. "Glad to see someone is actually paying attention."

The others gaped, and he noticed a particularly shocked look from Poindexter.

"Get something to eat," he said. "We'll go back to working on marksmanship when you're done. You have an hour." Boone allowed himself a smile as he saw O'Hanrahan and Poindexter help Razz and Mags to their feet as the group began hobbling down the hill.

"Hmph, look at that," Raul said as he approached the sniper.

"Yeah, guess they're not hopeless," Boone said, a little smugness coloring his words.

"No, I mean look at your side." The sniper looked down to see blood soaking through his shirt.

Layla was not going to be happy.

*.*.*

The Courier sat on the balcony, looking at the lake with a stack of papers in her hands. Chief Hanlon hadn't been there when she'd stepped out of the building, so she decided to wait for him. Layla hadn't been able to decide if she was relieved or further upset by his absence. She wanted to get this over with, but was dreading it at the same time.

She looked out on the land around the resort, trying to ignore her stomach as it continued twisting itself into a knot. A group milling around the firing range caught her eye. Layla couldn't help but smile as she reached for the binoculars. Sure enough, Boone was still doing his jackass impression on the Misfits.

A little more time and he might just make them into a pack of soldiers. She set the binoculars down and frowned. If she'd heard about a stranger who did the things Boone had done at Bitter Springs, she might have called them a monster.

But she'd lost count of how many times he'd saved her life. Or how many other lives he'd aided in their travels.

When she'd been young, it had been so easy to know what to do. Keep your nose clean, watch your back, and treat people right. If someone did you or others wrong, keep away from them. Layla had been used to giving people only one chance.

She didn't know what it was that made the Mojave change everything. A year ago she'd have taken one look at Nipton's burning corpses and headed back to California for good. Now she was in charge of a sovereign nation, kept company with Brotherhood of Steel members and 'murderers,' and killed old men in cold blood.

There was no easy answer to the problem she faced now. And as she thought about it, the door to the balcony opened and Chief Hanlon strode out.

"Hey there, Kid. Looking for me?"

"I…" She hesitated, then blew out a breath. "I know you did it. The falsified reports. On purpose."

Hanlon's smile faded, and a tired, serious look came over him. "We shouldn't be talking about this out here. Let's go into my office."

Layla bit her lip, some part of her whispering warnings that the old man might try to keep her quiet, permanently. The Chief looked like he was reading her mind.

"Don't worry," he said, a brief touch of mirth ghosting over his features. "This old dog don't have much bite left. I'm not in the habit of hurting innocent civilians."

The frown hadn't left Layla's face, but she followed as he lead her inside. Soon they were in an office on the first floor. Hanlon took a seat behind his desk, indicating another chair for Layla.

"Now, what are you talking about, exactly?" He said evenly.

"Nettle never drank on the way to Forlorn Hope, only back," Layla said. "That isn't the real problem, it's this." She held up one of the reports. "Nettle died fifteen days ago. This report was signed off and delivered twelve days ago."

Hanlon took the report and read it over. "Well, shit." He sat back at his desk, setting the paper down. "Manipulating intel is a ranger's real job," he said.

"But you're making stuff up, crazy things. And for what purpose?" Layla said, emotion building in her voice. "People are dead because of this."

The Chief flinched, and Layla's nervousness grew into anger.

"Why did you do this? It obviously wasn't to help the war, so _why_?"

Hanlon was quiet for a moment, looking at his hands. Eventually, he looked her way.

"It's never going to end, this fight with Caesar's boys," he said. "People don't know what we're up against. We can't stop them here, not without getting a lot of people killed. Even if we do stop them, we'll never be able to leave the Mojave. Creating fear and instability was the only thing I could think of to get us to pull out, but people have gotten killed." he looked down. "This report was the last phony one I sent. I'd hoped the oversights wouldn't be noticed, and we could move on. But I suppose from what I hear about you, it's not so surprising you're the one who caught it."

Layla gave him a hard look. "Your people were counting on you. Most of the time the rangers are the only hope in this whole desert, and you've made their jobs harder and more dangerous. This isn't helping anyone."

"I know that now…" Hanlon agreed.

"Caesar's dead," she continued. "The Legion isn't going to make it more than a few years, tops. We might even take out the rest of their leadership at the Dam."

"Oliver can't stand that the rangers got credit for the last victory at Hoover Dam," Hanlon said wearily. "He'll do the opposite of anything I suggest, even if he endangers more lives by doing it."

"Well then it's a damn good thing the rangers aren't under his jurisdiction," Layla said harshly. "This is what I mean. You're endangering the only ones who could stop this clusterfuck from getting worse. Do you realize how important the rangers are to the morale here? I've seen hopeless fights turn completely around when a single ranger showed up. If anyone ever found out the head of the Rangers was deliberately trying to sabotage things, it would be devastating."

Hanlon's dour face darkened further. "I know… I messed up." He sighed. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to do anything," she said. "_You_ are going to go back to work, and do it right. And if I find out about any more screwed up reports, I'm going to let the other rangers know about it." She had to put a lot of effort into keeping a neutral face as she continued. "Don't make me do that."

"I won't." Hanlon's face cleared somewhat, but he still looked tired and grim. "Now I'm going to leave this room, and we're going to act like this conversation never happened."

Layla nodded, stuck somewhere between relief and disgust.

*.*.*

The sun was just reaching the horizon. Well, Layla had to assume it was, but the House Resort was in the sunset's way. Some cheesy part of the Courier's brain wanted to wax poetic about symbolism, but she squashed the feeling. She was too tired to put up with poetic waxing right now.

Layla lied back on the picnic table she'd planted herself on with a groan. She felt old suddenly, weary. This war was like a wild fire; no matter what she did to solve a problem, three more would spring up. It was suddenly very easy to understand why Hanlon wanted to get the NCR out. She knew the man had been trying to help, he'd just gone about it poorly.

"Hey."

Layla looked over her shoulder to find Boone coming her way. She noted he was walking more naturally now as she sat up.

"Hey," she answered, smiling. "What's up?"

"Wondering where you got to," he answered, sitting next to her on the table.

"Afraid I'd go wander off into trouble?" she murmured, and he shrugged, smirking slightly. "How are the Misfits?" she asked.

"Better," he said, rubbing his side. "They're working together. Even starting to shoot better."

"Good." Layla smiled. "You're good at scaring people, you know that? I thought for sure you'd have more trouble with Razz. He's an ex-Fiend, you know. He suggested we get everyone hopped up on psycho to 'improve their fighting.'" She laughed. "I'm sure _that _would have gone well."

He smiled marginally, and Layla looked out at the water again. She thought about going for a swim, but decided against it. She didn't feel like getting groped by another Lakelurk. Turning back to Boone, she found him looking uncomfortable.

"Something bothering you?" she asked, and he frowned. He spoke a moment later, sounding cautious.

"Before you came to Novac, I…" He fidgeted. "I was pretty out of control…"

That hadn't been what she'd been expecting.

"What do you mean?"

"I was using a lot of chems, couldn't sleep unless I drank. Gave up the drugs, was starting to shake too much." He grimaced. "Kept drinking and using Buffout, though."

"Why Buffout? It doesn't alter mental state."

"I was just waiting to find out who sold Carla before I… took out as many Legionaries as I could."

Layla nodded, feeling her stomach twist. "Well, I haven't seen you do much drinking now…"

"Had someone depending on me again," he said, and she looked up at him.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Don't know." He shrugged. "Felt like I was hiding things from you."

She chuckled. "I'm not going to throw you out, if that's what you're worried about. It was probably wise not to tell me when we first met, though." The mirth faded after a moment. "You were in a pretty dark place then." She reached out and took his hand. "I'm sorry you had to go through so much alone."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you at the Big Empty, or the Sierra Madre," he said.

Layla frowned at that. "It's not your fault-"

"Not your fault about the chems either…" he interrupted, making Layla smirk marginally.

"Since when can you out-talk me?"

He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.

Layla's stomach felt like someone was wringing it out when he took off his sunglasses as he held her gaze. She opened her mouth to speak, not really sure what was about to come tumbling out-

"Hey! There you are!"

Layla jumped and turned, seeing Ranger Bellamy coming their way. "The Chief's asking for you."

The Courier tried not to let the disappointment show on her face as her hand slid out of Boone's. "What's up?"

"Well, we thought the group who offed Caesar deserved a steak and a beer," Bellamy said jovially.

"Oh. Well, I won't argue that." She looked back in Boone's direction, and wondered if she was imagining the disappointment on his face as well.

* * *

><p>Today's chapter was brought to you by 'Blade,' 'Blade 2,' 'The Dirty Dozen,' and the Letter G!<p> 


	5. Devils in the Details

Layla could tell Veronica was antsy about going back to Elder McNamara. She couldn't really blame the other girl; she'd asked Veronica not to mention the whole 'NCR wants us to kill everyone' thing. She'd told the scribe she was working on a plan.

The truth was she had no clue what to do. The last time someone had asked her to blow up Hidden Valley, it hadn't gone well for anyone. This time around, she'd decided that no matter what, no one was going to die over it.

They'd gone back to the 38 after a few days at Camp Golf. Raul had gone home. Veronica needed to go home to deliver some holotapes. ED-E had wanted to go, but Layla had been wary of getting him around Lorenzo again. Mainly because he might try to get another bug in the robot. She'd told Boone to stay home and finish recuperating, but that hadn't gone very far.

The Elder was at his desk in the command room when they entered. Looking up, he gave her that same guarded smile he always did. His expression got a little colder as he saw Boone enter.

"Is there something you need?" McNamara asked, and Layla fidgeted. She had hoped going to Hidden Valley would give her an idea, but nothing had come yet.

"Oh," Veronica said suddenly, "We found these…" she stepped up and handed the man a stack of holotapes they'd found on Brotherhood scouting parties out in the Mojave.

"They were all dead," the scribe continued with a frown. McNamara looked at them with a somber expression, and Layla bit her lip.

"Is there anything else you guys needed…?" She could imagine the looks on her companions' faces, but it seemed like everyone needed help in this desert. And it was a nice way to buy some time to think.

"Well…" The Elder frowned. "Normally I wouldn't trust an outsider with something like this, but Veronica does vouch for you." He looked to the scribe, and she nodded. "There is the matter of our scouts in the field."

"They have holotapes your Pip-Boy should be able to pick up," McNamara continued. "I need you to get their reports. After the other parties went missing, they were told to hold their position and maintain radio silence. Mention that I've sent you, and ask 'If the bears are still hunting.' They should give you their reports."

Layla nodded. "We'll head out now."

*.*.*

They found the first scout, a twitchy knight named Samson, on a rock near the NCR correctional facility. He'd nearly shot at them, but Veronica had managed to talk him down. Unsurprisingly, the man had thought Boone was an NCR assassin coming after him. Once he heard the passcode, he'd calmed down.

"My report's all here," Samson said, and Layla noticed him still occasionally giving Boone a cautious look. "This facility had been taken over by the prisoners. The NCR waited too long before taking it back. Long enough so that most of the convicts escaped."

Layla bit her lip. "But they did take it back, eventually. And they totally blew up the fence in the process." Samson gave her a strange look, and she noted Veronica and Boone doing the same. She couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"I was there. I'd been doing a little undercover work for the soldiers stationed outside of Primm. Once we got an idea of what the Powder Gangers - that's what the convicts started calling themselves," she said to Samson. "Once we knew what they were up to, I helped a group take the prison back. I mean, I barely did anything personally, but it was still awesome to watch."

"You went undercover?" Boone said incredulously. Layla leveled a mock glare at him.

"Yes, and Lt. Hayes said I'd done an excellent job," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. The sniper was undoubtedly thinking about the last time she'd done 'undercover' she'd almost cried when a ranger threatened to arrest her.

"It was one of the first things I did after I caught that case of head-bulletitis in Goodsprings."

Now the whole group was giving her a strange look.

*.*.*

"Elder McNamara sent us-"

"Why the hell did the elder send one of the gofers, an outsider, and an NCR goon?" the scout said testily before Veronica could finish. She noticed Boone giving him the same annoyed look she was. The scout had always been a bastard.

"It doesn't matter, Phil," she shot back, hands on her hips. "He did and we have the pass code, 'Are the bears still hunting?'"

The scout glared at her, but dug around in his armor, producing a holotape.

"There's my report. This camp-" he nodded towards Forlorn Hope, which was partially visible from the vantage point on the ridge overlooking the valley between it and Nelson, "was in a stalemate with the Legion for a very long time. They're in better shape now, but they would have been in a lot of trouble if reinforcements hadn't shown up."

"That's probably true," Layla spoke up as she surveyed the valley. Looking back Phil's way, she frowned. "How is it no one at Forlorn Hope has seen you? There are even rangers in the sniper posts now."

"They're not as observant as they'd like to think," the knight sniffed.

"Maybe they just don't think you're a threat," Boone grumbled. Veronica couldn't help it when she snorted; Boone was hilarious when he was pissed off.

"They're probably distracted," Phil bit out, then looked Layla's way. "Between the Legion attacks and how often you show up and disrupt everything, I'm not surprised they didn't see me."

Now Layla was giving him an offended look. Veronica sighed heavily.

"Let's move on," said the scribe. "We don't want to keep Phil here from his important job: staring at an empty valley."

Phil glared at her as they left.

*.*.*

"Last one," Veronica said as they made their way up a ridge overlooking a small, ruined town. "He should be right over here."

Sure enough, there was a man in Brotherhood recon armor at the edge of the cliff. He turned to face them as they approached. The man kept his hand loosely at his side near his gun, but didn't make any threatening moves.

"Veronica?" he said incredulously, squinting in their direction. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking up your report," the scribe answered, then turned to Boone and Layla, "This is Davish, pretty much the only scout without a stick up his ass."

"Layla," the Courier said, smiling politely. "He's Boone." The knight nodded to them, looking amused at Veronica's description. The mirth faded a moment later.

"I'm afraid my report isn't going to be a pleasant one," Davish explained, then gestured past the cliff. Boone saw they were overlooking Nipton. He remembered hearing that the town had gone silent. That hadn't been long before Layla had shown up in Novac.

"The people here were brutally attacked. Almost ever man, woman and child killed by the Legion," Davish continued. "That this could happen so far west speaks poorly of the NCR's control of their borders."

Boone frowned; that was an understatement. It irritated him to hear it from someone outside of the NCR, even if it was accurate. Glancing over, he found Layla staring out at the town. Boone could see crosses that had been made by telephone poles lining the main street. Luckily, there weren't any bodies on them; Layla looked upset enough as it was.

"At any rate, here's my report," Davish said as he handed Veronica a holotape. "Elder McNamara will surely be interested in what I've witnessed."

"Thank you," Veronica said. "We'll get this to him."

For a moment nobody moved. Boone noticed Layla was still staring out at Nipton.

"Layla?" Veronica said, making the other girl jump.

"Oh! Let's go," she said, blushing. "Uh, thank you Davish."

The scout nodded, and they made their way back to the road. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. Veronica frowned.

"We'd probably better camp for the night," she said. Boone nodded, and started looking around for a good spot. There was a blown out building that used to be a Jackal hideout. It wasn't much protection, but one wall was better than no walls, and he seemed to remember there was a fire pit as well.

"Hey, are you okay?" he heard Veronica ask. She was facing Layla, who still looked dazed.

"I'm fine," the Courier said, rubbing her forehead. "I'm sorry, just thinking."

"You're sure you're okay?" the scribe pressed. "What is it?"

"I… It doesn't matter. It was a long time ago," she said cryptically, then looked around. "We're stopping for the night?"

Veronica nodded, hands on her hips. Layla started for the Jackal hideout before she could be questioned further.

*.*.*

The man with a dog on his head was beckoning to her. It was a hood made from a wolf skin, she was pretty sure. The town was on fire, there were dying men tied to crosses along the street, and the group she was nearly certain had caused it stood in the center of the destruction, waiting for her.

She thought for a moment to turn and run. If she just kept running all the way back to the Mojave Outpost, or at least until she got within Ghost's sights, she'd be okay. But the men who were still staring at her looked a lot stronger than her. Even if she was faster, they had dogs. She couldn't outrun dogs.

Trying to calm herself down, she weighed her options. She was vastly outnumbered, had nowhere she could run, probably nowhere she could hide before they got her. Couldn't run, couldn't fight, she had to try to talk her way out of this.

Willing herself to stop shaking, she walked up to the wolf-head guy. He was wearing dark goggles; she couldn't see his eyes. It was so much harder to know where you stood with someone if you couldn't see their eyes.

She stopped far enough away from him that she could at least make one desperate attempt to run if they did decide to kill her. The man looked at her. Even without seeing his eyes, she could tell he was sizing her up.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to lash you to a cross like these degenerates," Wolf-head said. Layla stiffened; the man's voice was quiet and dangerous. Just the sound of it immediately put her on edge.

"You're coming here is fortunate," he continued.

"Why?" Layla managed to speak, but hadn't been able to keep the tremor out of her voice. She couldn't talk her way out of this; they were going to torture her and kill her and there-

"I want you to observe the lesson here…" he continued.

Oh God, he was going to kill her. She should have listened to her mother and never left California. She should have at least listened to her brother and hired a bodyguard. But how the hell was she supposed to afford a bodyguard making courier money-

"…And when you leave, I want you tell others of what you've seen."

"I… what?" she sputtered. He wasn't going to kill her? "What lesson?"

"Where to start?" Wolf-head said, sounding amused. "That they were weak and we were strong? But that isn't what was important. This town was punished for its disloyalty. They were willing to betray those they sheltered. Even when they were given their punishment, their only thoughts were of themselves… even as 'loved ones' were put to flame."

Oh Christ, this guy was _insane_. She glanced at the other men, and found them either staring at her grimly or nodded at what Wolf-head said.

"This was a town of whores, willing to service any who came. Any passersby, profligate soldiers, even men of the Legion, such as myself."

"Y-you're Legion?" She'd never seen a Legionary before. Suddenly all the warnings she'd been given about them came to mind. Most pointedly her ranger brother's just as she was leaving Shady Sands for the Mojave.

'_If Legion soldiers find you, you run. And keep running until you're somewhere safe. The Outpost, one of the ranger stations, McCarran or Golf, doesn't matter. Just don't talk to them, don't try to fight. Run.'_

"Yes," the man answered, smiling at her and she had to keep herself from recoiling as he did.

"This is unforgivable." She heard herself say. She had to say something, at least try to put on a brave face, but going by the knowing look Wolf-head was giving her, it must not have been very convincing.

"As are all crimes," he replied in the same calm tone. "If you feel so strongly about it, attack me. Then you'll feel nothing at all."

Now he was just playing with her. Some stupid part of her riled at his goading, but she wisely made no hostile move. The Legionary smiled further.

"Spread my sermon to the other profligates; Caesar will take the Mojave." And with that, he turned and started walking away. The other Legionaries followed him, taking their dogs with them. Layla watched as they left, too stunned to move.

A groan from behind interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to face the crucified men. She couldn't save them; they were too far gone to be healed. But she could at least put them out of their misery. As she reached the first one, she pulled her old 10mm from her holster and pointed it at the man, her eyes filling with tears.

*.*.*

The Courier tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, groaning. Layla was having a nightmare. A bad one by the look of it. Veronica had noticed her sleep was more troubled in the last few weeks. Her 'trip' to the Big Empty had only made them worse.

She moaned again, then whimpered. The scribe couldn't stand hearing it anymore and turned her way, only to find Boone reaching for her already.

"Hey," he said giving her a gentle shake. "Wake up." He shook her again, and Layla gasped raggedly as her eyes opened.

"W-Where?" she sputtered, eyes unfocused as she looked around frantically. "What…?"

"It's okay, you're safe," Veronica said soothingly as she moved to her side. "Calm down."

The Courier sat up, rubbing her forehead with a shaking hand. She took a few moments to breathe, and her eyes started focusing on them. The Courier took a look at their concerned faces and looked suddenly embarrassed.

"What was it about?" Veronica asked. "Your were having a bad dream, right?"

She nodded and started chewing her lip. After a moment, she sighed and answered.

"Nipton."

Veronica frowned. "Yeah, what Davish saw was pretty nightmare worthy."

Layla sighed. "I was there, right after it happened. I walked into town just as the Legionaries who did it were leaving."

"What?" Boone asked, looking grim. "When?"

"I was on the way to Novac," she answered. "I was alone. Vulpes let me live so I could tell people what he did. Scare tactics," she grumbled.

"Vulpes was there?" Veronica cried. "And he just let you go? I bet he regrets that now," the scribe said.

"Yeah, probably," Layla said, picked at a fingernail nervously. Scooching closer, Veronica put an arm around her. The Courier smiled half-heartedly at her.

"Well, I think I'm done sleeping for a while," she grumbled. "If you guys want to get some more rest, I'll keep watch."

"Nah, I'm good for now," Veronica said, and she saw Boone nod. Layla had only been asleep an hour anyway. The Courier grinned a little, then looked out along the road.

"… What is that?" she said, pointing down the road. "Is that coming from the Mojave Drive-In?"

Boone was already on his feet, rifle scope up to his face. "Looks like the projector's working again."

"I thought you guys took it apart?" Layla said, confused.

"We put it back together, thinking it might be the only way you could come back…" Veronica said.

"Well, let's go see what it is," Layla said, standing. She frowned at the faces she got from both Veronica and Boone.

"I.. can't tell you why. But I'm pretty sure nothing will happen. And if something does happen, I can fix it," she said confidently.

Boone glanced Veronica's way, and she shrugged. "If you're sure," she said to the other girl.

"I am," Layla replied a she put out their fire. Soon they were approaching the Drive-In. Boone had taken point, hands on his rifle. Layla looked completely unconcerned, and Veronica figured she knew what she was talking about.

"Hey, it's actually playing movies now!" Layla said, pointing to the screen, where a robot was walking with a group of spacemen.

"Neat," she said, then looked around for a working speaker. Once she'd found one, she sat down next to it. Boone was still prowling around for trouble.

Veronica rubbed her arms, it was freezing at night without a fire. She sat down next to Layla, and the other girl moved in closer. Boone came back from his patrol and sat on Layla's other side, and they all huddled together for warmth, watching the movie.

"Remind me when it's the future to not wear metallic miniskirts," Layla said as a teenage girl pranced onscreen.

"Oh man, I can't wait until the metallic miniskirt future," Veronica responded. Boone snorted.

Soon the captain of the space crew was starting to figure out the scientist's and his daughter's terrible secrets. Veronica felt Layla's head sag on her shoulder and she looked down; she'd fallen asleep.

Grinning, Veronica stretched her arms, shifting Layla's head in Boone's direction in the process. The sniper looked down as her head settled on his shoulder. He didn't make a move to wake her or change her position, and soon he and Veronica went back to watching the movie while Layla slept between them.

*.*.*

They reached Hidden Valley by midmorning and delivered the holotapes to McNamara. They'd probably have been there a lot sooner, but neither Veronica or Boone had woke Layla at daybreak. Shaking away the thought, she focused back on the Elder as he installed the holotapes into his station.

"I'm going to have to study these reports… Thank you for bringing them," he said to them. "If you're still looking for something to do. Please go see Knight Lorenzo. He's got a… sensitive matter that needs to be addressed."

Layla bit her lip; she hadn't seen Lorenzo since broadcasting to him that she was deactivating the bug he'd put in ED-E. She hoped he wasn't cross about it.

"Um, okay, we'll do that," she answered, and McNamara nodded, looking at the display before him. Soon they were walking into Hidden Valley's workshop.

Lorenzo caught sight of them and walked over.

"Well well well, if it isn't 'Love-them-and-leave-them?" he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Layla put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, well thanks for bugging my robot," she answered. Lorenzo merely laughed, much to the Courier's relief.

"What do you want?" he asked mock-impatiently. "We're busy here."

"Elder McNamara said you needed help with something," Veronica said. "You getting too senile to fix the leaky faucets?"

"Oh ha ha," Lorenzo said, then suddenly adopted a grim face. "Actually, it's the air filtration system."

"What about it?" Layla asked.

"It's about to blow. We need parts or we're going to have a real big problem."

"Oh shit," Veronica grumbled. "How long has this been going on?"

"We discovered it a few weeks ago…" Lorenzo said. "I need several HEPA 20 cartridge filters, a reverse pulse cleaner and a differential pressure controller," he explained. "We've sent people looking, but they haven't come back… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Layla was grinning as she set her pack down and opened it. "Veronica, you've still got the pulse cleaner thing, right?"

"Yeah," the scribe said as she pulled the part out of her robe. Layla found the differential pressure controller a moment later.

"Are six HEPA filters going to be enough?" she asked. Lorenzo looked at her like she'd sprouted a new head.

"Why the hell would you have all this on you?"

Layla shrugged. "Well, it came in handy. You're actually damn lucky I grabbed some of this… We weren't going to get back into Vault 3 for a while…"

Lorenzo shook his head in amazement as they piled the parts on his workbench.

*.*.*

"Well, now what?" Veronica asked. "Are you going to tell me you plan now?" she asked Layla as they walked Hidden Valley's halls. The Courier bit her lip.

"Um… the thing about that is-"

"Veronica, can I have a word with you?" A large man in power armor approached them. Layla recognized him; the head Paladin. Harden. She was pretty sure his name was Hardin.

"Yeah sure," the scribe said. Turning back to Layla, she looked like she was about to speak, but the paladin beat her to it.

"If your friends would like it, Paladin Vargo here could give you a tour of the bunker," he said, not sounding particularly happy. Layla was pretty sure she'd never win over some of these Brotherhood types, but the offer was pretty civil of him.

"That would be nice," she answered, trying to maintain a polite air. If most of these people had a problem with her, she wasn't going to give them any ammunition by being rude. Another power armored paladin stepped forward from Hardin's side and approached them. She saw Boone stiffen out of the corner of her eye. Before she could ask him what was wrong, Vargo turned and started for the stairs to the lower level of the bunker.

"Try to keep up," he said, and Layla quickly walked after him. Boone followed with a noticeable frown on his face.

*.*.*

"These are the supply closets…" Vargo murmured as they continued. Layla slapped a smile on when he looked her way. She'd hoped this tour would be a little more interesting than the bowels of the facility, namely the storage areas. They stopped in front of a door, which Vargo motioned to.

"If you go in here, I can show you one of the more interesting features of our storage."

_Please be something interesting and not just a jury-rigged force field on a crate. _Stepping in, Layla found they'd walked into a long room. There were crates along the walls as far as she could see. The back of the room was dark.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask what was stored in here, she heard a grunt from the dark end of the room. Vargo didn't seem to notice, and she tried to peer into the darkness.

"Is someone in here?"

There was another grunt, this time more frantic. She moved to the point where it was too dark to see and turned on her Pip-Boy light. A man in a ranger uniform was bound to a chair with an explosive collar around his neck. The plating on his armor had been removed, but the name stenciled on his shirt was still visible.

"Ranger Dobson?" Layla cried, then turned to Vargo to demand an explanation. When she did, she saw that three more paladins had entered. More worrisome, two of them had explosive collars in hand.

All four paladins charged at her and Boone.

* * *

><p>Today's chapter was brought to you by head cold-based sleep deprivation and the Number 4! We will be finishing 'Loose Ends' next Wednesday. Then we move on to 'Patriots.'<p>

Everyone have a good/safe Halloween! Don't get sick on candy!


	6. A Watched Pot Never Boils

"Have a seat," Hardin said as Veronica strode into his office.

"What's up, Edgar?" she asked, taking a seat.

The man grimaced slightly, but it faded as he sat behind his desk.

"It's about the trouble you've been stirring up."

She sighed. It was only a matter of time before the old blowhard was going to come down on her for this. The scribe had hoped it would just blow over, but the jackasses who'd confronted them after she'd made her last plea to McNamara undoubtedly went running to tattle to Hardin.

"I can appreciate your concern for what's happening to us," he continued, looking troubled. "We are weakened, and only getting weaker while we stay underground. And I agree that things need to change."

"You do?" Veronica blurted out. Hardin was not the progressive, free-thinking type. In fact, she was pretty sure he had the Codex tattooed on the insides of his eyelids.

"Yes, though not the way you do. This is about Elder McNamara's insistence to continue the lockdown. If we don't go back to the surface, we will die of attrition."

"Ah." The scribe frowned. "Well, I don't think there's much we can do until he changes his mind…"

"There is one thing," Hardin said, getting Veronica's attention. "We could oust McNamara."

Veronica felt her face pull into a sneer. "Let me guess, you'll be the new Elder."

"I am the most qualified," he said, almost dismissively. "I have had the most battle experience and am the most knowledgeable about tactics. Under my leadership, we could continue the war with the NCR."

Groaning, Veronica shook her head. "That didn't go very well the first time, remember? You do know some of the people I've been working with are NCR, right?"

"They won't be a problem for long."

She didn't like the way he said that. "What have you done?"

*.*.*

Vargo lunged for Layla, and she ducked under his hand. Power armor, freaking power armor. She didn't have anything that would… Starting with realization, she remembered she had one of her proton throwing axes in her bag. If she could just get it out before-

Her thought was interrupted as a metal gauntlet closed over her arm. She could do little more than squirm when the man grabbed her other arm and held her still. One of the other paladins came their way holding an explosive collar, and Layla found herself surprised that she was panicking. The thought of another collar around her throat was more than a little upsetting.

Just before he got the collar around her neck, the paladin went flying. Vargo jerked a moment later, then gave her a perplexed looked that soon morphed into rage.

"What the fuck?" he cried, then looked like he was struggling to move in his own armor. Boone appeared at Layla's side a moment later, nose bleeding and looking furious. He carefully pried Vargo's, frozen fingers away from Layla's arms, releasing her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded.

"What happened? Why are they…" She trailed off as he held up his arm, which now sported a crazy-looking zap glove. She saw the name 'Paladin Toaster' scrawled on the side.

"Had Raul fix it for me. Thought it might come in handy," he said, a faint grin on his face. Layla shook her head, smiling.

"Well, I'm glad one of us is paranoid about these- oh!" She turned back to the bound ranger, suddenly remembering him. The relief on his face mirrored her own as she removed the gag.

"Are you okay?" she asked as Boone cut the ropes off his arms and torso. "Did they hurt you?"

"Only beat me a little to soften me up," said Ranger Dobson. **"**I think they were waiting to get all of us."

"What do you mean?" Layla asked, digging in her bag for a bottle of water. The ranger accepted it and drank it down in only a few gulps. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spoke again.

"You're Layla and Boone, right?"

She nodded while she made sure Boone's nose wasn't broken. The Ranger gave them a grim smile. "They're planning some kind of coup. They wanted you out of the way, then they were going to use us as hostages when they restart their campaign against the NCR."

"_What?_" Layla cried. She turned to Vargo, who's armor was still frozen while he glared at them. "Is that true?"

"You've been making this lockdown worse than it needs to be. You're probably sabotaging us for the NCR. McNamara is too much of a fool to see you for what you really are."

The Courier glowered at him. "I'm the only reason the NCR hasn't already rushed the place, and you attacked me."

Dobson stood, stretching out his undoubtedly stiff and sore muscles. Layla noted the explosive collar on his neck and turned back to Vargo.

"Where's the key to that collar?" she growled, letting all the venom from this turn of events color her tone.

"Fuck you. I hope one of the others find out what happened and blows that asshole to hell," Vargo snarled.

"Wrong answer." Layla pulled the combat knife from her bag. As she moved toward then man, she felt a hand on her arm. Turning she found Boone motioning to Dobson, who had the collar off his neck.

"You just have to know how to take them off," he said. "Not that I don't appreciate the gesture."

The Courier put her knife away, feeling a blush coming on.

"What now?" Boone asked. His power-gloved hand creaked as he flexed it.

"We don't know who's involved," Layla said, "so we need to find Veronica and get to McNamara."

"How long is that armor short out gonna last?" Dobson asked Boone, who shrugged, looking to Layla.

"I don't know a whole lot about power armor," she said. "If I had to guess, maybe another minute. We'd better be quick-" As she spoke, Dobson went to each of the paladins and slammed them over the head with a laser pistol he'd pulled from one of their hands.

"…That works too," Layla said.

"Layla! Boone!" came Veronica's voice from down the hallway, the Courier sighed with relief.

"In here!" she called.

"What are you doing?" Dobson hissed.

"You heard what Vargo said about McNamara," Layla said conversationally as she checked Boone's nose one last time. "This isn't all the Brotherhood's plan. Veronica's on our side."

"I hope you're right," the ranger muttered as the door opened and the scribe burst in.

"Are you okay? Hardin said he was…" She trailed off as she saw the chaos in the room. She gaped at Vargo, who was clearly unconscious but looked like he was stooping down to grasp something invisible. "So uh… what the hell?"

Layla opened her mouth to explain when she heard footsteps in the hall. Turning, she saw Hardin bound into the room. He looked around the room, then at Veronica.

"Veronica, listen-" He was cut off as Boone punched him in the face. He crashed to the ground and didn't get back up.

Dobson laughed, "I like you guys."

*.*.*

"I owe you an apology for what's happened here," McNamara said again. Veronica had never seen the man look so flustered. Clearly he hadn't been expecting an attempted mutiny.

"Well, we can work this out still," the Courier responded. That was true; Dobson been good enough to let Layla handling this situation diplomatically. Once things had cleared up, they'd get him to the ranger safehouse.

"What's going to happen to Hardin and his people?" Layla asked, sounding apprehensive.

"He and his men will be dealt with," McNamara said dismissively. The Courier opened her mouth to question him further, but the Elder continued before she could.

"As of this moment, the lockdown is lifted," McNamara said. "The NCR does not have nearly as strong a hold on the area as we originally thought."

Veronica's eyebrows shot up. She never thought she'd see the day they'd all be able to go out again. She hoped Hardin would enjoy the irony of all this… if they let him live.

"That's probably true…" Layla said thoughtfully. "But you guys aren't doing so good right now either."

"We've had some hard times, that's for sure, but-"

"The NCR asked me to eliminate you and your entire chapter," she said, cutting him off. The startled look on the man's face was shared by just about everyone in the room, but Layla pressed on.

"I'm not going to do that. The Legion's coming. You've seen the reports of what they do. You're weakened. The NCR needs all the help it can get. So much so that I don't think they'll say no to a truce."

Veronica gaped at the other girl. The Elder's own shock slowly changed to a thoughtful look.

"There would have to be provisions to this treaty…"

"That goes for both sides," Layla agreed. "For now, I think the best I can offer you is an end to the fighting." She made a hard face as she continued. "And I suggest you get rid of all your explosive collars. NCR isn't very found of them being used on their people."

McNamara gave her a grim smile. "Tell the NCR we are willing to work with them."

*.*.*

"I'm not going to lie, this might be a hard sell," Layla said as she and Boone walked into the offices of Hoover Dam. The sniper snorted at her understatement. Turning another corner, she saw Lt. Colonel Gregory coming their way.

"Hey Boone!" the woman called, smiling. "You and I have to have a talk."

"Go on," Layla said as she moved towards Moore's door, "This will probably take a few minutes."

Boone nodded and moved to speak with Gregory as Layla turned toward the Colonel's door. Before she could knock, it opened and Moore stepped out of the room. She frowned as she noticed the Courier.

"Colonel," Layla said frostily, then bit her lip. This was going to be hard enough without her being openly hostile.

"Granville," Moore answered flatly. "Is the situation with the Brotherhood resolved?"

Layla took a deep breath. She had to do this just right, or there'd be trouble. "I have."

"They're all dead? Somehow I doubt that."

"They're not dead. They're willing to sign a treaty with the NCR."

There was silence for a moment. The Colonel stared at her with a look of disbelief.

"You can't seriously mean to tell me you've spoken with them and offered, without sanction, a treaty." Moore said quietly.

"I did," Layla retorted, trying not to get unnerved by the anger in the other woman's voice. She squared her shoulders and laid it all out. "I did because we need all the help we can get. I did because the Brotherhood isn't in a position to attack the NCR, but they are in a position to help us. Something their elder has offered to do."

"And you believed them?" Moore's face was turning an upsetting shade of purple. "You just bought that they'd help us, just like that?"

"Well, I told them that we'd have discuss terms. I think they mentioned something about getting back salvaged power armor," Layla said, then had to stop herself from taking a step back from the other woman's glare.

"I… How can you be so stupid?" Moore asked, hands balling into fists at her sides.

"How can you be so blinded by a grudge half a decade old?" Layla shot back. Some tiny part of her mind screamed at her to be civil or this wouldn't end well.

"At least I know my loyalties," Moore growled. "At least I don't spread my legs for the Brotherhood, the Kings, House or anyone else who'll have you."

The Courier's face twisted. "So the Brotherhood busted your leg? Well wake up, that was years ago. We need all the help we can get, or you're going to find out first-hand what the Legion does to a woman with a limp."

*.*.*

"I've just gotten the combat readiness evaluation back from Camp Golf," Gregory said, handing Boone a sheet of paper. "And we've had some interesting results." The sniper had to fight down a grin as he looked at the report.

"The Misfits have all passed. They even broke a few records, and I hear we've got a '1st Recon veteran and a cowboy ghoul' to thank for it." The Lt. Colonel smiled. "Is Layla not keeping you busy anymore?"

"Wasn't much trouble for her to get into with all those rangers around," Boone answered. Gregory laughed.

"The brass is pretty pleased about the Misfits. Most everyone considered them a wash," she said.

"They just needed a push," Boone said. He frowned suddenly at the sound of raised voices behind him. He turned just in time to see Colonel Moore punch Layla in the mouth.

"Colonel!" Gregory cried as she and Boone ran for the two women. Layla responded with a punch to Moore's stomach, but the other woman looked unaffected. Moore lunged at the Courier, and Boone and Gregory reached them just as she had gotten Layla in a headlock.

*.*.*

"What the fuck happened to you?" Cass cried as she walked into the 38's kitchen and found Layla holding a frozen steak to her eye. "Did you finally annoy Boone enough for him to slug you?"

She then caught sight of the sniper sitting across the table, who looked offended at the implication.

"I got into a minor altercation with… someone," the Courier said stiffly.

"Who?"

"… Colonel Moore."

"Fuck!" Cass cried. "You hit her? How is it you're not in stocks at the Dam?"

"Well, she technically threw the first punch… so if anyone was going to get into trouble, it was her."

"Huh, what a psycho," Cass sat down at the table. "Are you gonna blow the whistle on her?"

"No." Layla said firmly. "We need that 'psycho' right where she is when the Legion attacks. Besides… I said some things that were punch-worthy. And we got the Brotherhood to ally with the NCR… so she wasn't too happy."

"Well, that explains why Veronica's all peppy," Cass said, then sat on a chair. "So what happened after she started swinging?"

"Boone and a few soldiers separated us… I could have taken her though."

"She's had ranger combat training," the sniper said. "She would have killed you."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

><p>I hope you've enjoyed 'Loose Ends.' Our next story, 'Patriots,' will begin on 1110/11. I was going to go with 11/11/11, since that's what the kids are doing, but the editor pointed out everyone would be busy. So we'll all have something to do while we pine for Skyrim instead.

Thanks for reading! See you on the 10th!


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